The UNESCO Convention concerning The Laponian Area, Lappland The Church Village of Gammelstad, Luleå The Laponian Area is one of Western Europe’s few remain­ A church village is a col­ ing areas of wilderness. Four national parks and two nature lection of small houses and the Protection of the World Cultural reserves are combined in this large area of 9,400 km2. stalls at a parish church in Laponia is situated in the municipalities of Gällivare and northern Sweden, where and Natural Heritage Jokkmokk.This area of high mountains and open mountain churchgoers from distant plateaus, endless forests and wide-stretched swampy land areas could stay when is both untamed and without roads.This is also the cultural attending church. The What do Grand Canyon, the Galapagos Islands, the Citadel Would you like to know more? landscape of Sweden’s indigenous Saami people.This prop­ village at Gammelstad in Haiti and Engelsberg Ironworks have in common? They For more general information about World Heritage sites erty was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1996. dates to the early 1600s. It are all treasures in our shared world heritage.They bear in Sweden, contact the Swedish National Heritage Board is unique in combining the Nordic wooden architecture of unique testimony to the history of the earth and its people. The justification of the World Heritage Committee was: or the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. church village and the commercial town.This property was To protect the most valuable cultural and natural sites The area is an outstanding example of how the earth has devel­ See also www.raa.se and www.naturvardsverket.se. inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1996. against decay and destruction, the UNESCO Convention oped, especially geologically, and how ecological and biological Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and For more information about the Convention and changes happen today. There are also unique natural phenomena The justification of the World Heritage Committee was: Natural Heritage was adopted at the General Conference other World Heritage sites see of exceptional natural beauty and significant natural localities The Church Village of Gammelstad is a unique example of the of that United Nations body in 1972. UNESCO: whc.unesco.org for the protection of biological diversity. The area, which has been Struve Geodetic Arc, Norrbotten traditional church town found in northern Scandinavia. It The Nordic World Heritage Foundation: www.nwhf.no inhabited by the Saami since prehistoric times, is one of the best illustrates in an outstanding way the adaptation of traditional Since then this important international agreement has been Wilhelm Struve’s geodetic measurements at many places The Swedish National Commission for UNESCO: preserved examples of a nomadic area in northern Scandinavia. town planning to the distinctive geographical and climatological signed by 190 states, which have all thereby undertaken to along a meridian resulted in a well-determined value of the www.unesco.se It contains settlements and pastures for large herds of reindeer, a conditions prevailing in a difficult natural environment. satisfy the requirements and obligations of the Convention. earth’s flattening at its poles.They were among the earliest custom that was once very common, going back to an early stage By signing the UNESCO convention, countries pledge to of their kind. Between 1816 and 1855, measurements on a total in human economic and social development. care for and preserve important cultural and natural sites of 265 places were made, stretching from the Arctic Ocean to within their own territory and to support other countries in the Black Sea. A total of 34 places in 10 countries compose their efforts to preserve our shared world heritage. this serial world heritage. Four world heritage places are located in northernmost Sweden: Perävaara,Tynnyrilaki, The international work is led by UNESCO’s World Heritage Pullinki and Jupukka in the respective municipalities of Committee, which consists of 21 countries. In Sweden Haparanda, Kiruna, Övertorneå and Pajala.This property the Swedish National Heritage Board and the Swedish was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2005. Environmental Protection Agency, together with the rel­ evant county administrative boards and local authorities, are The justification of the World Heritage Committee was: responsible for looking after our World Heritage sites.They Struve’s triangulation of a long meridian segment has contri­ are also responsible for nominating suitable cultural and buted to establish the precise size and shape of the globe. The natural sites for inscription UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Swedish National Heritage Board 2013. Print: E-print AB 2013. measurement meant a great step forward to science. Measuring Photo: Riksantikvarieämbetet, KMB. Layout: Hedh & Franke/Helena Duveborg. In summer 2013 the World Heritage List contains 962 sites in Copyright license according to Creative Commons license CC BY. Struve’s Geodetic Arc is also a good example of collaboration 157 courtiers. Sweden has 15 World Heritage sites. License at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/. between scientists in different countries. Swedish National Heritage Board 1. The Laponian Area www.laponia.nu, www.laponia.info. 2. Struve Geodetic Arc www.heartoflapland.com. 3. The Church Village of Gammelstad www.lulea.se/gammelstad. Tel. +46 8 519 180 00. www.raa.se. Norrbotten County Administration, tel. +46 920 960 00. Norrbotten County Administration, tel. +46 920 960 00. Norrbotten County Administration, tel. +46 920 960 00. Swedish Environmental Protection Agency Ájtte, Swedish Mountain and Saami Museum, tel. +46 971 170 70. Pajala kommun, tel. +46 978 120 00. Världsarvskontoret/Luleå Municipality, tel. +46 920 45 51 11. Tel. +46 8 698 10 00. www.naturvardsverket.se. Gällivare Tourist Agency, tel. +46 970 166 60. Pajala Tourism and Events tel +46 978 100 15. Gammelstads Visitor Centre, tel. +46 920 45 70 10. The Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland Engelsberg Ironworks, Fagersta The Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland consist of seven Engelsberg is a well preserved ironworks with its eighteenth timber houses from the 19th century.They show how inde­ and nineteenth century buildings and industrial structures pendent farmers who had accumulated wealth through for­ still intact.This type of ironworks was the foundation for estry and flax production built new homes with special rooms Sweden’s international position as a producer of high-quality or separate buildings designated for festivities.The timber iron.Today this property is part of the museum complex houses with adjacent farm buildings represent the zenith of Ecomuseum Bergslagen.This property was inscribed on the a building tradition that dates back to the Middle Ages.The World Heritage List in 1993. suites and buildings are lavishly decorated with paintings. The justification of the World Heritage Committee was: The owners would commission itinerant and local artists to Engelsberg is an outstanding example of an important European compose these works.Today there are approximately 1000 industry from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, Hälsingland farmhouses remaining. Of these, seven farm­ with important technical remains and with both offices and houses have been selected: Kristofers in Stene, Gästgivars in homes preserved. Vallsta, Jon-Lars in Långhed, Pallars in Långhed, Fågelsjö The High Coast/ Kvarken Archipelago, gammelgård (Bortomåa), Bommars in Letsbo and Erik- Ångermanland Anders in Asta.The farmhouses of Hälsingland were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2012. The High Coast is the only hilly stretch of coast along the The justification of the World Heritage Committee was: Baltic.The area provides a clear, concentrated picture of the The large, impressive farmhouses of Hälsingland, with their highly The Mining Area of the Great Copper Birka and Hovgården, Ekerö geological forms and the development of vegetational condi­ decorative rooms for festivities, reflect an extraordinary combina­ Mountain in Falun tions and the cultural history characterising the area, which These are the sites of a Viking age town and royal estate tion of timber building and folk art traditions, the wealth and rose out of the sea after the last Ice Age.The High Coast Shiny red copper metal was shipped from the Falun copper situated on the islands of Björkö and Adelsö in Lake social status of the independent farmers who built them, and the was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2000. In 2006, mine to become the roofs of churches and palaces all across Mälaren. Its cultural landscape, ancient monuments and final flowering of a long cultural tradition in Hälsingland. the area was expanded to include the Kvarken Archipelago Europe. Stora Kopparberget and its surrounding landscape museum, with models and finds, give a good picture of the in Finland – a flat, rocky landscape with tracks from the Ice are memorials to Sweden’s earliest history as an industrial town’s former appearance and lifeways.This property was Age and continued land uplift. Both areas together form a nation.This property was inscribed on the World Heritage inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1993. geologic whole where high meets low. List in 2001. The justification of the World Heritage Committee was: The justification of the World Heritage Committee was: The justification of the World Heritage Committee was: The Birka-Hovgården area is a well preserved example of the The site is one of the places in the world that is experiencing iso­ The historical landscape around the Great Copper Mountain and Vikings’ trading networks during the two centuries when they static uplift as a result of deglaciation. Isostatic rebound is well­ Falun is one of the world’s most important areas for mining and expanded economically and politically in Europe. Birka is one of illustrated and the distinctiveness of the site is the extent of the metal production. Mining came to an end in the closing years of the most complete and untouched Viking Age trading sites from total isostatic uplift which, at 285 m, exceeds others.